Convoys
Convoys are a special kind of mission where multiple players coordinate to take down an especially large enemy. The enemy unit has an extremely large number of HP (typically several million), so you (probably) won't be able to defeat it in a single battle. However, you and your teammates can make multiple attacks, with the damage from each attack accumulating until you can finally do enough damage to finish off the target. In addition to the convoy unit itself, normal enemy troops will also appear to defend it. You can't capture the enemy spawn point like in a regular battle, so these will keep appearing through the course of the battle. Starting an attack From time to time, a convoy icon will appear on the map. When you click on it, you first choose what difficulty you would like to face. Naturally, the higher difficulty levels are more challenging but give you larger rewards. Then, you have the choice of joining an existing fireteam or starting a new one. Once you've done this, you move into the lobby. From here you can see the other members of the fireteam and can chat with them. Once everyone has joined, the leader can start the actual battle. (The leader can start with fewer than 5 people, but this is not recommended, both because you want everyone to help out, and to maximize the rewards that people can get.) Combat Once the leader has started battle, then everyone can launch attacks. There is both a fuel cost and a number of artillery bombardments to start an attack. As described above, it usually requires many attacks to take down a convoy, so the first several will generally end in defeat. However, all the damage you do to the boss will be added to the total. In general, you can launch as many attacks as you want, limited only by your troops and fuel. However, the "Charon" armored train convoy has a cooldown of 8 hours between attacks. You have a total of 7 days to defeat the convoy. The battle itself is mostly similar to a regular battle. The convoy unit is your main target, and has its own weaponry that it will fire at your troops. However, the convoy will also send out regular enemy troops which will fight normally. Tactics One important thing to realize is that once your troops acquire a target, they won't switch targets until that enemy is killed, which means that once your troops start firing at the convoy unit they will continue to do so even when attacked by enemy troops. As a result, it's a good idea to hold some troops in reserve so that you can periodically take out the enemy troops and keep your own alive longer. In some maps, it's possible to place turrets to do this, since they can stay behind your own troops and protect them from enemy attackers. This also means that heavily armored units are useful to soak up attacks from enemy troops. Rewards The possible rewards depend on difficulty and can be seen in the difficulty selection screen; lower levels usually have rewards such as resonators, city plans, or keys, while higher levels can get repair kits, greater amounts of the previous, or even heroes. The possible rewards are listed in the table below the convoy information. In addition, everyone gets "cargo" chests specific to the convoy. These are mostly similar to regular chests, but each also contains 5 convoy marks, which can then be traded at the quartermaster on the world map for hero tokens. If you are the one who finally destroys the convoy, then you receive an additional reward. Basic convoys There are five basic convoys that may appear on the world map. They are: * "Black Widow" mech. brigade (20-35): Consists of three large mechs (each with 70 ) which attack with cannons and deploy Dominion troops. The reward chests are "Black Widow" cargo, which include 5 "Arachnophobia" convoy marks, one hero token, and regular chest contents. * Captured "Destroyer" (20-35): A four-legged walking machine with a large cannon and 75 , escorted by Dominion troops. The reward chests are "Destroyer" Black Box chests, which include 5 "Goliath Slayer" convoy marks, one hero token, and regular chest contents. * "Charon" armored train (20-35): A large, very heavily armored (80 ) train which uses a large cannon as well as machine guns, and is escorted by Old Reich troops. This can only be attacked every 8 hours. The reward chests are "Charon" cargo, which include 5 "Liberator" convoy marks, some Old Reich defector troops, incriminating documents, and regular chest contents. * "Menno Doomerville" tank: A giant tank resembling a British Mark V tank with two main cannons, accompanied by Dominion troops. The reward chests are Cache of "Doomerville" chests, which include 5 "Armour breaker" convoy marks, some Old Reich defector troops, one hero token, and regular chest contents. * "Spider" Mech. Brigade (20-35): Consists of three spider mechs, which have machine guns with a very high rate of fire, accompanied by Dominion troops. Each individual mech has 1/3 of the total HP, 70 , and can be destroyed individually. The reward chests are "Spider" cargo, which include 5 "Spider Exterminator" convoy marks, one hero token, and regular chest contents. In all cases, the cost per attack is 100 fuel and 3 artillery bombardments. The stats of these are as follows: The additional rewards from the convoys are as follows. For the "Black Widow" mech. brigade, the captured "Destroyer", the "Menno Doomerville" tank, and the "Spider" mech. brigade, the rewards are almost the same, with a few differences noted below. The rewards for the "Charon" armored train are somewhat different and are listed below. Faction convoys Once you join a faction, you will also periodically see faction convoys on the map. These work like regular convoys, except they are only open to people from that faction. In addition, the cost per attack is 200 fuel plus 3 artillery bombardments. As far as I can tell, the three different faction convoys are the same in battle, consisting of a large, heavily armored tank (80 ) which fires on you with a gun, accompanied by various marauder troops (outcasts, psychopaths, and goliaths). The rewards are also similar; you get faction cargo chests, which contain some faction troops, 5 emblems of the faction convoy, and regular chest items. You also receive 10 faction spheres for landing the killing blow. Clan convoys If you are in a clan which has built a Communication Tower, you can also fight clan convoys. This work similarly to regular convoys, although they do not appear on the world map; they are accessed from your clan building. At the first level of the Communication Tower, you can fight the "Doom Hammer" convoy, and the second level adds two more convoys. Each convoy had five difficulty levels, each of which can be attacked once per week. The rewards include clan influence and rating points, as well as cargo chests, which contain regular troops and resources (including some rare troops). The cargo chests also come in different quality levels. * The Doom Hammer walking machine is a large, four-legged tank with a main cannon, 80 , and is defended by Dominion troops. * The "Warrington" frigate is a ship that fires a cannon. It features a secondary turret, which has its own HP pool (shown in the table below) and must be destroyed before the main frigate can be attacked. It is defended by Old Reich troops. In addition to the regular rewards, it also rewards construction moulds, which are required for higher-level clan mechanics research. * The "Genofrost" armored truck is a large truck with a powerful main cannon. It has an additional front gun and two side guns which have their own HP pool and can be destroyed separately. (The additional HP number in the table below is the total HP of the additional guns -- the front gun has twice as many HP as the two side guns.) It is accompanied by marauder troops. It also awards chemical tablets, which are needed for higher-level clan genetics research. Category:World map